a tank and reel
developer
stop bath (not required, but good in many eyes)
fixer
hypoclear
photoflo or other wash agent
running water
a dark room or a changing bag to load the film
someplace to hang the film to dry

How to develop:
1. Load the film onto the reel and place it in the tank . This must be done in total darkness!
2. A quick prewash of the film, just some water (about 68 degs, try to keep all your chemicals at this temp) for 30 sec to a minute, swish and dump
3. Develop - time will depend upon the chemical and film used. Agitate according to the directions or personal preference
4. Start dump of developer when time is 15 sec away from being up
5. Add stop bath for appropriate time, then dump (can usually be reused, so dump back into a graduate)
6. Fixer - fix for appropriate time. (can often be reused, check with hypo-chek)
7. Fill and dump 3 times.
8. hypoclear - I can't remember how long I do this 1 or 2 minutes
9. Wash for 10 minutes in running water
10. photoflo - do not rinse off
11. hang to dry

Developing the film is easy to do without a darkroom, as once you have the film loaded into the light proof developing tank, you can be anywhere. I used to develop film while watching TV. Printing is what requires some space.

I've used a changing bag to load the film onto the reels just sitting on the living room couch, then gone into the kitchen, lined up my chemicals in order of use, and developed at the kitchen sink!

Matt's right; developing your own film is not a big deal once you buy a few things (Orie's list is great). Then you can at least inspect them at home, and decide which ones you'd like to see printed. Or - invest in a good film scanner (if you don't already have one) and play with them in PS! You can do whatever you want with them once developed.

You need a thermometer for sure. You can either mix the chems with the appropriate temp of water, or you can put the chems in metal or plastic containers, and stick them all in a tub of 68 degree F water. In 10 min or so they'll all be the same temp.

Does it have to be precisely 68 degree F? If yes, how do we get that precision?

Click to expand...

Lots of different ways. First off, buy yourself that darkroom thermometer with a long stemmed probe. You can run some of the water you'll use straight out of the tap; then have water chilled and ready to pour while you mix your chemistry, add a little at a time while checking with the thermometer. These thermometers are extremely sensitive and fast-acting; it's not as odious a task as it sounds. My husband prefers to use smaller graduates that fit into larger ones or bowls with chilled water, this also works pretty fast in cooling.

You'll develop (no pun intended) a method that you like best once you've done it a few times.